Map of Planned Location (Where the Baseball Fields Are): Model of Memorial: Visitor Intro:
Memo To Congress:
Memo Presented on the Fifth of November, in the year Two-Thousand and Twelve.
Let it be presented to Congress the following concept of an American Civil War memorial to be placed in Washington DC. On the Potomac there is a space that is perfect for this place of remembrance for the Civil war. It is important for the American citizen to remember this devastating war in American history. It is set apart from the other monuments because it is unlike all of the other wars that have been fought in that it was against ourselves and it needs to take a special place in the hearts of Americans by making it stand out from all of the other memorials that are on the national mall. This memorial is important not just because of the fact that the United States fought against itself but also in the fact that the views are so divided on it. It is a very large event in the history of America and it still has not been commemorated. The plan of the memorial is to display the events of the war from both sides by the utilization of streams of water. The memorial will start with an entry way and a large pool of water that drops off in two directions in water falls into two separate streams. In between the start of the streams there will be a torch-like structure with the Union and Confederate flags intertwining to form a flame. It will be set up longways so the streams can run a long ways down and one must walk a decent distance to get to the end. One can also choose to walk on the Confederate or Union side. As one walks down the streams become wider as the deaths progress as well as they become varying degrees of rapids at various points in the war (i.e. Sherrman’s March would be very violent rapids). Also in the streams will be large boulders that have different state’s names on them to show which states were on which side of the war. The boulders are not at specific points in the streams, they are just placed in the order in which states either joined the Union or seceded. At the end the streams will run into a pool of relatively flat water to show the end of the war and things beginning to calm down. The water in the end pool will be lit with red lights to symbolize blood and the fact that all of the blood that was shed was the same, no matter which side the blood came from. This method of telling the story in deaths and events is the best way to take an unbiased approach to the war while still remembering the 600,000 Americans that died in the war with much more wounded. The goal of the memorial is not to make a political statement one way or another it is just to remember and memorialize those that died fighting for what they believed in. That being said the causes of the war have been purposefully left off from visuals in the memorial because it was believed to be too much of a political statement to show the slaves or the political ideas. A statement made in the visitor intro as well as placed on signs as people enter the memorial will say “This memorial is not to be a place for debate, it is a place to remember and honor those who died standing up for what they believe in,” thus stressing the fact that people should not be bringing politics in to this memorial. It is not desired for this The walkways will be made of granite to symbolize the rock hard political stances that led people into the war as well as having the torch be a steel painted metal because steel was largely what was used in the battle (in the rifles and swords). The events that were chosen to be highlighted were major events in the war such as large battles, turning points or important aspects. Some events that are highlighted are the splitting of the union, shown by the starting pond’s two waterfalls, various battles, shown by markers etched in the granite as well as by the rapids in the streams), and the end of the war, shown by the coming together of the streams at the end.
It is the hope of the proposers that visitors can come to the memorial and have a deep experience in a way that is different from the memorials. This memorial will only give the facts in a different form from others and leave it up to the visitor to interpret the information which is the best way to learn about a war, because they are not being force fed an opinion about the war, they are deciding for themselves. It is hoped that the visitors will be impacted by the forcefulness of the water as well as by the width of the streams representing the deaths that they will come away with a deeper understanding of the losses from this war, whether they were for one side or the other and how devastating it was on the American people. The memorial has been designed such that it will fit in with the colors and feel of the other memorials however it still stands out as it the only war memorial that would utilize water as well as it stands out from the national mall where all of the other memorials are and the reasoning for this, which has already been stated above, is to make a statement about how this was not just another war, and there have been no other wars like this in America to date. It needs to be remembered and a special effort needs to go in to seeing this memorial.
Although a large effort has been made to avoid making political statements about the war it is still possible for controversy to pop up surrounding the use of the Confederate and Union flags as they can be considered offensive to some people while not offensive to others. If this is something that causes issues statements will be made regarding the fact that both flags are incorporated as they are part of our history and we are not attempting to offend anyone, just to remember a part of the history of America. Another possible issue that could arise from the design of the memorial is people having issues with the symbolism of the blood at the end as they might not like the idea that the Confederates had the same blood as the Union soldiers. This will be dealt with by the aforementioned statement at the beginning talking about how this is not a place for political campaigning and like it or not they were Americans at one point so it is a valid, non-biased statement to make.
We hope that you, Congress, will consider this proposal for an American Civil War memorial. Thank you for your time.
Journal "The Emancipation Proclamation, Confederate Expectations, and the Price of Southern Bank Notes." Gary Pecquet, George Davis and Bryce Kanago. Southern Economic Journal. Vol. 70, No. 3 (Jan., 2004), pp. 616-630. Southern Economic Association. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4135334>
Books "American Civil War." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9006104>. "Remembering the American Civil War." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. <http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9544539>.
Model of Memorial:
Visitor Intro:
Memo To Congress:
Memo Presented on the Fifth of November, in the year Two-Thousand and Twelve.
Let it be presented to Congress the following concept of an American Civil War memorial to be placed in Washington DC. On the Potomac there is a space that is perfect for this place of remembrance for the Civil war. It is important for the American citizen to remember this devastating war in American history. It is set apart from the other monuments because it is unlike all of the other wars that have been fought in that it was against ourselves and it needs to take a special place in the hearts of Americans by making it stand out from all of the other memorials that are on the national mall. This memorial is important not just because of the fact that the United States fought against itself but also in the fact that the views are so divided on it. It is a very large event in the history of America and it still has not been commemorated. The plan of the memorial is to display the events of the war from both sides by the utilization of streams of water. The memorial will start with an entry way and a large pool of water that drops off in two directions in water falls into two separate streams. In between the start of the streams there will be a torch-like structure with the Union and Confederate flags intertwining to form a flame. It will be set up longways so the streams can run a long ways down and one must walk a decent distance to get to the end. One can also choose to walk on the Confederate or Union side. As one walks down the streams become wider as the deaths progress as well as they become varying degrees of rapids at various points in the war (i.e. Sherrman’s March would be very violent rapids). Also in the streams will be large boulders that have different state’s names on them to show which states were on which side of the war. The boulders are not at specific points in the streams, they are just placed in the order in which states either joined the Union or seceded. At the end the streams will run into a pool of relatively flat water to show the end of the war and things beginning to calm down. The water in the end pool will be lit with red lights to symbolize blood and the fact that all of the blood that was shed was the same, no matter which side the blood came from. This method of telling the story in deaths and events is the best way to take an unbiased approach to the war while still remembering the 600,000 Americans that died in the war with much more wounded. The goal of the memorial is not to make a political statement one way or another it is just to remember and memorialize those that died fighting for what they believed in. That being said the causes of the war have been purposefully left off from visuals in the memorial because it was believed to be too much of a political statement to show the slaves or the political ideas. A statement made in the visitor intro as well as placed on signs as people enter the memorial will say “This memorial is not to be a place for debate, it is a place to remember and honor those who died standing up for what they believe in,” thus stressing the fact that people should not be bringing politics in to this memorial. It is not desired for this The walkways will be made of granite to symbolize the rock hard political stances that led people into the war as well as having the torch be a steel painted metal because steel was largely what was used in the battle (in the rifles and swords). The events that were chosen to be highlighted were major events in the war such as large battles, turning points or important aspects. Some events that are highlighted are the splitting of the union, shown by the starting pond’s two waterfalls, various battles, shown by markers etched in the granite as well as by the rapids in the streams), and the end of the war, shown by the coming together of the streams at the end.
It is the hope of the proposers that visitors can come to the memorial and have a deep experience in a way that is different from the memorials. This memorial will only give the facts in a different form from others and leave it up to the visitor to interpret the information which is the best way to learn about a war, because they are not being force fed an opinion about the war, they are deciding for themselves. It is hoped that the visitors will be impacted by the forcefulness of the water as well as by the width of the streams representing the deaths that they will come away with a deeper understanding of the losses from this war, whether they were for one side or the other and how devastating it was on the American people. The memorial has been designed such that it will fit in with the colors and feel of the other memorials however it still stands out as it the only war memorial that would utilize water as well as it stands out from the national mall where all of the other memorials are and the reasoning for this, which has already been stated above, is to make a statement about how this was not just another war, and there have been no other wars like this in America to date. It needs to be remembered and a special effort needs to go in to seeing this memorial.
Although a large effort has been made to avoid making political statements about the war it is still possible for controversy to pop up surrounding the use of the Confederate and Union flags as they can be considered offensive to some people while not offensive to others. If this is something that causes issues statements will be made regarding the fact that both flags are incorporated as they are part of our history and we are not attempting to offend anyone, just to remember a part of the history of America. Another possible issue that could arise from the design of the memorial is people having issues with the symbolism of the blood at the end as they might not like the idea that the Confederates had the same blood as the Union soldiers. This will be dealt with by the aforementioned statement at the beginning talking about how this is not a place for political campaigning and like it or not they were Americans at one point so it is a valid, non-biased statement to make.
We hope that you, Congress, will consider this proposal for an American Civil War memorial. Thank you for your time.
Journal
"The Emancipation Proclamation, Confederate Expectations, and the Price of Southern Bank Notes." Gary Pecquet, George Davis and Bryce Kanago. Southern Economic Journal. Vol. 70, No. 3 (Jan., 2004), pp. 616-630. Southern Economic Association. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/4135334>
Books
"American Civil War." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9006104>.
"Remembering the American Civil War." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. <http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9544539>.
Websites
"The American Civil War." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Civil_War>.
"Civil War Trust." Civil War Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/faq/>.
"Congress erupts over arming freed slaves." America's Civil War July 2012: 19. U.S. History In Context. Web. 4 Nov. 2012.
<http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA293813432&v=2.1&u=cary&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w>